I’m back in Stanley, Idaho with Mary Ann for the majority of the summer. She works as a fly fishing guide through Silver Creek Outfitters, guiding on the Salmon River near Stanley. I come along and work on bamboo rods….and fish a lot. While I was here last year, I wrote a little fly fishing blog about the fishing opportunities around Stanley. I’ve started it up again this year, and you can read about my fly fishing adventures at www.flyfishingstanleyidaho.com .
After way too long, Mary Ann and I finally got out for a couple of days of fishing on the Crooked River in Central Oregon last week. The water level was nice but we found fishing success was a little slow. Some bugs were flying in the afternoon (caddis, BWO, and midges) but very few fish were coming up. Mary Ann tried swinging streamers with one of my 10′ 6″ 5 wt bamboo switch rods but the fish didn’t seem to want the larger flies. I tried an 8′ 0″ slow action 5 wt bamboo rod from my Spring Creek Series and had decent success with French nymphing techniques and indicators. The slow action of this rod cast the lightly weighted nymphs well and the soft tip helped with detecting light strikes. We both managed to pick up some decent rainbows and whitefish in the 10″ to 12″ range, typical sizes for the Crooked River. A small #18 black AP nymph or a #8 stonefly nymph fished on the bottom with French style indicators proved to be the most successful. Here are a few photos from our time on the Crooked River last week:
French Nymphing on the Crooked River
A nice rainbow from the Crooked River
Mary Ann and some two-handed casting with a bamboo switch rod.
I’ve been busy getting ready for the Northwest Fly Tyer and Fly Fishing Expo (www.nwexpo.com) in Albany, Oregon this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I’ll be there in Booth #3 with my bamboo fly rods. This is one of the largest fly tying/fishing shows on the west coast with great opportunities to learn about fly tying, take classes in fly fishing and casting, and visit with many equipment vendors and lodge/resort owners as well. If you make it to the show, please stop by my booth.
Show Update: It was a good show this year, although attendance was down a little. I always enjoy this show because it’s in my home territory and I know so many folks here. A lot of my good friends stopped by the booth and chatted. Here I am at the show:
2014 NW Fly Tyers and Fly Fishing Expo.
With all the cold weather and snow we have right now, we’ve been catching up on some old “to-do” items. We spent a few days last May at Yamsi Ranch in Southern Oregon fishing the headwaters of the Williamson River. It’s amazing fishing for highly educated rainbows and brook trout on spring creek water…requiring long, light tippets and plenty of stealth…perfect for bamboo fly rods. Here is a little video of Mary Ann stalking and catching a nice rainbow one sunny morning.
Mary Ann and I hit a local river with one of my bamboo switch rods two days ago, hoping to scare up a steelhead. I took out my 10′ 6″ 5 wt. switch rod…a little under gunned if I happened into a large winter fish. I swung a #6 bucktail coachman on an intermediate leader….yes, Paul, you’ve had an influence on my fly selection! The weather was cold (33 degrees) and foggy, and all we caught were frozen extremities and iced-up guides. But it was still fun to get out.
A #6 Bucktail Coachman
Swinging with my bamboo switch rod